Caterina Banti retires on top after second Olympic gold
by Alexia Lahoud, 49er and Nacra 17 Sailing 2 Sep 2024 16:50 BST
Caterina Banti retires on top after second Olympic gold © World Sailing / Jean-Louis Carli
Caterina Banti, 37-year-old Italian sailor, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the Nacra 17 class paired with Ruggero Tita, announced her retirement from competitive activity.
"The gold I won at the last Olympics paired with Ruggero Tita - she said - was the best possible way to end my career as an athlete. I had decided a few months ago, and I have no regrets, now I have to think about what I will do in life. Yes, Ruggero already knew", she said while speaking to Radio Sportiva.
Then the story of her repeat of the Olympic gold: "In Marseille there was a lot of pressure on us because everyone said 'Tita and Banti will win gold again'. However, nothing is a given. But we were good". "I knew it would be my last performance - she added - and it had to be the best possible. And so it was, and I brought home the gold medal".
Tita and Banti have been at the top of the class since the moment they teamed up together in 2017, which coincided with the period the class evolved to full foiling. They won six World Championships in eight years as a partnership, missing the 2021 Worlds in a post-Olympic break, and finishing 7th in 2019. They pioneered the dynamic movements required for downwind foiling and retired as the clear leaders of the fleet.
At times, they faced as much internal competition from other Italian teams as they did from the rest of the World. In 2019, Vittorio Bissaro with Maelle Frascari (ITA) won the Nacra 17 World Championship. Even after Tita and Banti won the 2020 Worlds, there was still internal discussion about which World Champoinship crew would be nominated by Italy for the Tokyo Games. Then in 2023, Ginaluigi Ugolini with Maria Giubilei (ITA) were nominated for the 2023 Test Event in Marseilles and won that regatta, again putting Tita and Banti under pressure. But they won the 2023 and 2024 Worlds putting their nomination for Paris out of question. Their victories were driven by a dominant Italian squad.
What will Caterina Banti do now? "I have a series of ideas and projects in my head - the answer -, but they are still in progress, and it's premature to talk about them. However, I would like to stay in the world of sport and pass on what I have learned in all these years". Finally, a joke about the difference between the Olympic gold in Tokyo and the one in Marseille: "they were certainly two different regattas, and we were different too. But we had to repeat ourselves, so this one in France was definitely more difficult".
Take a look at the Nacra 17 races 4, 5 and 6 at the Paris Olympics in epic windy conditions (time 4:10:00)